ARTICLES ABOUT DREW BLEDSOE BY DATE - PAGE 4

When Kevin Gilbride accepted coach Gregg Williams' offer to be the Bills' offensive coordinator, the North Haven native and Southern Connecticut graduate wasn't landing one of the NFL's plum jobs. It was February, and the Bills' 3-13 season was still a raw wound in the fanatical hearts of fans. Rob Johnson, injury prone mainly because he holds the ball as long as the Statue of Liberty holds its torch, had been cut, leaving career backup Alex Van Pelt as the Bills No.1 quarterback. Knowing that was an unpalatable solution if they were to contend in 2002, the Bills unenthusiastically were considering veteran free agents Jeff Blake and Chris Chandler, all the while looking longingly at Drew Bledsoe.

It didn't appear as if becoming offensive coordinator of the Bills was the best career move for former Southern Connecticut and San Diego Chargers coach Kevin Gilbride, above. Then Drew Bledsoe joined him in Buffalo. Story, Page C2.

If you have an extra $5 million or so, there's a modern mansion available in Medfield, Mass. Drew Bledsoe, traded to the Bills Sunday for a first-round pick in 2003, is expected to arrive in Buffalo Wednesday to meet his new teammates and begin house-hunting. The Bills are thrilled, and he's acting as if he is, too. Like the song says, if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with. "Although I will certainly miss all of the Patriots fans who supported me over the years," Bledsoe said in a statement released by both teams, "I know from the other side of the field how loyal Bills fans are and it will be wonderful to receive their support."

Mr. Nice Guy Bob Kraft hasn't changed one iota. He wants it his way all the time. Kraft wants to be seen as a kind guy, a warm guy, a good guy and not a shark. He didn't really intend to use and abuse Hartford to get some concessions and cooperation from Massachusetts officials for a new stadium in Foxboro. It just happened to work out that way. Kraft didn't really want to trade quarterback Drew Bledsoe to crummy Buffalo. It just happened to work out that way. Kraft would be easier to take if he'd drop the smarmy pretenses.

At about 11 a.m. Sunday, the second day of the NFL draft set to begin, Patriots player personnel director Scott Pioli told coach Bill Belichick what he had been wanting to hear: The Bills, intransigent Saturday, had offered their first-round pick next year for Drew Bledsoe. Belichick sat down with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and salary cap guru Andy Wasynczuk to make sure the deal they had been holding out for was still OK with them. It was. So for the Patriots, after nine years, the Drew Bledsoe era was over.

When the Patriots made Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe the first player chosen in the 1993 NFL draft, Greater Boston had four pro sports franchises but only three icons. The Bruins' Bobby Orr, hockey's greatest defenseman. The Celtics' Larry Bird, basketball's greatest forward. The Red Sox's Ted Williams, baseball's greatest hitter. The Patriots, the area's youngest pro franchise, had never had a marquee player worthy of such a pedestal. Even as he was being measured for his first Patriots uniform, the 20-year-old Bledsoe was being measured for something more enduring.

Who is afraid of Drew Bledsoe? Certainly not Bill Belichick. Conventional wisdom says you never trade a star player to a division rival. But it looks as if the Patriots are about to do exactly that when they shuffle Bledsoe off to Buffalo in the next 24 hours in exchange for draft choices. During Belichick's three years as Jets defensive coordinator, Pete Carroll's Patriots were 25-18 against the rest of the NFL, but 2-3 when Bledsoe (he sat out one game with an injury)

At one level, they are playing a game of chicken, the Patriots and these suitors for Drew Bledsoe. One party wants to get as much as it can for a gifted, loyal and, sadly, extraneous asset. The other wants to give as little as possible for a quarterback who might make all the difference for a NFL market. So they push each other. They dare each other. They bump and race toward the cliff of NFL draft day, seeing who will blink first and buckle to the other's demands. At a second level, they are playing the Old West game of horse trader.

The Drew Bledsoe sweepstakes aren't going as well as the Patriots hoped, if a report in Friday's Cincinnati Enquirer is true. Quoting two unnamed sources, the newspaper reported that Bledsoe's agent, David Dunn, has told the Bengals that Bledsoe doesn't want to play in Cincinnati. That would be bad news for the Bengals. They became interested in Bledsoe when free agent Elvis Grbac, cut by the Ravens, rebuffed them several weeks ago, leaving Jon Kitna as their unwanted incumbent.